Ofsted thumbs up for the Academy

15 August 2018

In July 2018 Ofsted conducted a monitoring visit to The National Logistics Academy as part of a series of monitoring visits to a sample of new apprenticeship training providers that are funded through the apprenticeship levy. The Ofsted inspectors concluded that The Academy is one of a minority of new providers that was making “significant progress” across all three of their inspection themes:

How much progress have leaders made in ensuring that the provider is meeting all the requirements of successful apprenticeship provision? – significant progress

What progress have leaders and managers made in ensuring that apprentices benefit from high-quality training that leads to positive outcomes for apprentices? – significant progress

How much progress have leaders and managers made in ensuring that effective safeguarding arrangements are in place? – significant progress

Ofsted specifically highlighted a number of strengths in The Academy’s approach: “Senior leaders have a clear and purposeful strategic ambition to be the leading national provider of high-quality training for the logistics industry. They have invested significantly in the resources and capacity to ensure that subcontractor members are supported to deliver the programmes to the required high standards. Managers have developed a range of high-quality learning resources. Senior leaders and managers have developed rigorous quality-assurance processes to monitor the quality of teaching, learning and assessment.”

Ofsted also noted that: “Managers use their long-established working relationships with high-profile employers in the industry to plan apprenticeship programmes successfully to meet their individual business needs. Employers value the knowledge, skills and behaviours that apprentices develop and the impact on their business.”

The National Logistics Academy was launched in July 2016 to provide training and apprenticeships to large, levy paying national logistics employers through a nationwide network of 25 specialist logistics training providers operating out of 50+ locations.

The National Logistics Academy is also a brand aimed at attracting and preparing young people to embark on a career in logistics and provide the logistics industry with the workforce of the future. It actively promotes the sector as a career of first choice, not last resort and offers a range of entry points and learning programmes to help young people make the transition from school to work.

Commenting on the visit The National Logistics Academy Chief Executive Mark Currie said: “I am delighted that Ofsted has given us their thumbs up for all the hard work and investment we have put into building a high-quality apprenticeship delivery model to serve the UK’s largest logistics operators. We pride ourselves on delivering the high-quality skills, knowledge and behaviour training our customers need as they grow and adapt to the fast pace of change that is challenging the whole sector. Our apprenticeship programmes are helping them tackle growing skills shortages and support the introduction of sophisticated technology that is being driven by the exponential growth in online retail and consumer expectations for ever faster deliveries.”